Ronin (1998)

Warriors without a Master....
John Frankenheimer's 1999 "Ronin" could easily have been another forgetable action movie. Instead, Frankenheimer manages to invest the plot with real tension and the characters with significant depth. The result, a loose riff on a Japanese legend about 47 masterless samurai, is an atmospheric thriller.

Robert DeNiro stars as a ostensibly out-of-work covert operative who answers a job interview in Nice, France, for an unidentified project on behalf of an unnamed sponsor. The mission, as described by the nominal leader (played with silky Irish menance by Natscha McElhone), is to steal a suitcase containing a sensitive cargo.

DeNiro and his fellow operatives, notably Sean Bean as an alleged former SAS member, Jean Reno as a former French operative, and Stellan Skarsgard as a former KGB computer expert, put together and execute an ambush, only to lose the suitcase to another covert operation. The stage is set for a series of thrilling car chases, betrayals, and a final confrontation with the real leader of the theft operation. The loyalties of the various operatives are suspect right up to the finish.

The movie was filmed on location in and around Nice and Paris. The dialogue is usually first-rate. The interaction between DeNiro and his ally of the moment Reno is priceless, as two professionals do their job while trying to ferret out the real alligences of the other. This movie is highly recommended to fans of Robert DeNiro and of the spy genre.

Great Action with a Minimal Plot
John Frankenheimer's film regarding a team of rogue agents hired to obtain a mysterious suitcase for their obscure employers. The plot is rudimentary with a loose story and undeveloped characters but presents some good action sequences with exciting car chases.

Frankenheimer tries to present the theme of the rogue agent by obscuring the purpose of the mission and the true motivation of the characters involved. Unfortunutely, this leaves the film with a minimal plot where no one knows much about the background of the characters or the real purpose of their mission. What is in the box? Who are all of the characters really working for? What are their backgrounds and real specialties? Nobody knows. Nice try but this attempt at presenting a plot of mystery seems to misfire leaving simply no real plot at all to cling to. Good car chases but somewhat your typical Hollywood exagerrations with infinite obstacles avoided at unbelievable speeds and, of course, your gratuitous scene showing the spontaneous combustion of car wrecks. The gun fights are completely unbelievable and make you wonder where these agents were trained to be so brazen in accomplishing their mission.

In short, the film has some good action sequences but leaves much to be desired in terms of plot and character development making it just another average action/suspense thriller.

Great Action with a Minimal Plot
John Frankenheimer's film regarding a team of rogue agents hired to obtain a mysterious suitcase for their obscure employers. The plot is rudimentary with a loose story and undeveloped characters but presents some good action sequences with exciting car chases.

Frankenheimer tries to present the theme of the rogue agent by obscuring the purpose of the mission and the true motivation of the characters involved. Unfortunutely, this leaves the film with a minimal plot where no one knows much about the background of the characters or the real purpose of their mission. What is in the box? Who are all of the characters really working for? What are their backgrounds and real specialties? Nobody knows. Nice try but this attempt at presenting a plot of mystery seems to misfire leaving simply no real plot at all to cling to. Good car chases but somewhat your typical Hollywood exagerrations with infinite obstacles avoided at unbelievable speeds and, of course, your gratuitous scene showing the spontaneous combustion of car wrecks. The gun fights are completely unbelievable and make you wonder where these agents were trained to be so brazen in accomplishing their mission.

In short, the film has some good action sequences but leaves much to be desired in terms of plot and character development making it just another average action/suspense thriller.